The Canisius volleyball team won the first set but couldn’t overcome Siena in the next three sets as the Saints defeated the Golden Griffins 23-25, 25-12, 25-16, 25-20 at the Alumni Recreation Center on Saturday afternoon. With the loss, Canisius drops to 10-16 overall and 8-7 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.

Freshman Katlyn Tyler led Canisius with nine kills. Junior Emily Litwin posted 21 digs in the match while senior Roxanne Hernandez had a match-high six blocks as Canisius totaled 10 team blocks on the day.

“We lost the match today in the serve and pass part of the game. We could never get into any sync or run our system consistently,” Canisius coach Cathy Hummel said. “It doesn’t matter who the opponent is but especially in a late-season match against a quality opponent like Siena, struggling in that aspect of the game makes it very difficult.”

Siena (10-14, 10-5 MAAC) jumped out to a quick 7-3 lead, but Canisius scored four straight points to even the score on the second service ace from sophomore Rachel Kline. Canisius extended the run to a 12-4 spurt, which included three kills from Tyler. Siena battled back and tied the score at 21-21, but Canisius never gave up the lead in the latter stages of the opening set. The Griffs took the first set on a solo block from Hernandez, her third block of the set.

The Saints dominated the next two sets and carried that momentum throughout the rest of the match. In the second set, the score was tied at 5-5 after a kill from senior Emily Elek, but Siena scored the next five points to go up 10-5 en route to evening the match at one set apiece. The third set followed a similar pattern as Siena again went up 10-5 early in the set. Canisius scored the next three points to make it 10-8 on a kill from Tyler, but Siena used a 10-1 run to break open the third set and go up 2-1 in the match.

Siena won the first three points of the fourth set and built leads of 10-3, 15-6 and 22-13 before Canisius made a late charge. A 5-1 run, including three kills from senior Jessica Warner, made it 23-18, but the Saints got to match point on the next side-out. Canisius fought off the first two match points but Siena finished off the match on its third opportunity.

Four Siena players posted double-digit kills, including 14 kills and 26 digs from Taylor Akana. Meghann also had a double-double with 11 kills and 13 digs. Haley Howell posted 51 assists for the Saints.

Canisius plays its last road game of the regular-season on Sunday, against Marist. Match time in Poughkeepsie is set for noon.

Notes: Siena sweeps the season series from Canisius for the first time since the 2009 season… Canisius had 10 or more blocks for the ninth time this season… Hernandez now has 92 block assists on the season, the sixth most in a season in program history… Litwin had 20 or more digs for the 10th time in 2013.